Rafael Nadal is in Roland Garros history: wins the Paris tournament for the seventh time, the only round of the Grand Slam on red clay, and surpasses the previous record of the Swede Bjorn Borg (six successes).
In a final characterized by several interruptions due to rain, and held over two days between Sunday and Monday, the Spaniard broke the resistance of world number one Novak Djokovic in almost 4 hours of play, who has never won here in Paris but who came from three consecutive Grand Slam finals won against Nadal (Wimbledon and Us Open last year, Australian Open this year).
The Majorcan won in four fractions of the game, losing the first and only set of a tournament played at formidable levels, something we haven't seen for at least a year now. The Serbian for his part tried to hold his own until the end, but as evidence of a Roland Garros played not at his level (he risked being eliminated by Tsonga and even by Seppi) he gave away too many points, making over 50 free mistakes and playing an absolutely insufficient first serve to counter Rafa's amazing defense.
Nadal burst into tears at the end of the match, winning the applause of a French public who, between accusations of doping and admiration for Federer and Djokovic, has never loved him too much.
However, Novak Djokovic remains firmly at number one in the ATP world rankings, and indeed increases his advantage over the Spaniard, since last year he stopped in the semifinals (defeated by Federer), while Nadal could not help but confirm the points of the sixth seal.
Now the eternal challenge between the two, who challenged each other in the Grand Slam final for the fourth time in a row, is postponed to in a month on the London grass of Wimbledon, where this year the challenge will be double, by virtue of the Olympic appointment a few weeks later. On paper, the green should smile again at the Serbian, but this Nadal, who has just entered the tennis legend, seems to be the one of the best times again, capable of winning on all surfaces.
